UpdateBP sees continued improvement of Gulf spill siphoning rate

07 June 2010 22:28  [Source: ICIS news]

(adds updates throughout)

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--BP is confident it will improve its siphoning of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill beyond its latest estimate of 11,000 bbl/day, a top executive said on Monday.

Oil was being piped from BP's containment system to the Discoverer Enterprise vessel, which could hold up to 15,000 bbl/day, senior vice president Kent Wells said during a conference call.

However, BP was bringing in a second vessel, which could store another 5,000 bbl/day. Operations for the second ship would begin by mid-June, Wells said, raising the overall extraction capacity to 20,000 bbl/day.

“This is an encouraging step,” Wells said. “It’s progressing along well.”

US estimates of the oil leak ranged from 12,000-25,000 bbl/day.

Wells said that the 27,672 bbl of oil collected in the first three days of its lower marine riser package (LMRP) cap operations were already well ahead of the 22,000 bbl siphoned in late May from the company’s riser insertion tube.

“We believed this was a superior collection device and it’s proven itself,” Wells said.

Wells said BP was continuing to shoot methanol down the pipe as a de-icer, but noted that excess water did not appear to be entering the cap as some had feared.

BP was continuing its attempt to raise its siphoning rate, he said.

BP officials had said they hoped to capture “90-plus percent” of the flow from the containment cap system.

The only method to completely shut the leak remained the drilling of two relief wells, which were not expected to be completed until August, BP said.

Oil began spewing from the bottom of the Gulf after a 20 April explosion sank the BP-operated Deepwater Horizon offshore rig.

BP said that cleanup costs had reached $1.25bn (€1.05bn).

($1 = €0.84)

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By: Ben DuBose
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